Media mogul Barry Diller, who is the chair of IAC Inc IAC is among the technology sector entrepreneurs who are backing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
In recent interviews, Diller opened up on his feelings about Harris’ election opponent Donald Trump.
What Happened: Diller, who is a longtime supporter of the Democratic Party and has donated to Harris, criticized the wealthy business figures who are supporting Trump in the 2024 election.
“I want Donald Trump pushed into the dustheap of history,” Diller said, as reported by Financial Times.
Diller said he’s surprised by “plutocrats” who support Trump and the likely reason being over taxes and money.
“A good many of them are saying they will vote for Trump because of his position on taxes and other things that will keep their dollars when they have more dollars than they would conceivably need.”
During the interview, Diller namedrops hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, who predicted the stock market would crash if Harris won the presidency.
“I heard him talk [about Trump] for 20 minutes and … he never talked about the character of the person. What he and others do is refuse to talk about the character of what is arguably a rotten person.”
Diller said he had lunch with Trump back in his “30s” while working at Paramount and around the time Trump was “an up-and-coming real estate guy.”
The IAC chairman said the meeting with Trump was reminiscent of talking to someone who tells you how great you are, but they really mean the comments as insults and not compliments.
“I remember going to the elevator and as the door closed thinking: I never want to see this person again in my life.”
When running into Trump over the past few decades, Diller has managed to not speak to the former president.
“It is 45 years now since my first encounter (and) I have never spoken to him since. So I have a badge.”
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Diller Criticizes Musk: Another name mentioned by Diller of Trump supporters who may be backing the former president for the wrong reasons is Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“Why he has gone this way, I think, is out of some weird bitterness and rejection by the current administration,” Diller said on the “Fire and Fury” podcast, as shared by Business Insider.
Diller said Musk and President Joe Biden have publicly spoken out against each other after the billionaire was previously a supporter of the current president.
Unlike billionaires supporting Trump for taxes and money reasons, Diller said Musk may be doing so as he believes the Republican party is more supportive of free speech.
Diller also said Musk’s political statements could be hurting revenue on social media platform X.
“He took over Twitter [X] and alienated at least half the audience for no reason other than his own talking. What hurt Twitter was his anti-advertising policies and statements that hurt Twitter’s economy.”
The media mogul previously said Musk buying X, which was formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion was similar to if the billionaire “bought a toy.”
“How long he will use it, like today, we don’t really know, but he’s not going to walk away, I don’t think.”
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Photos: Donald Trump, Barry Diller, Shutterstock
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